Articles

The Women’s Derby Match: Rob Sawyer and Sarah Deboe on Radio Merseyside

The Women’s Derby Match: Rob Sawyer and Sarah Deboe on Radio Merseyside

Rob Sawyer and Sarah Deboe on Radio Merseyside On Friday 15 November 2024, EFCHS members Rob and Sarah appeared on Radio Merseyside to chat with Kev Duala regarding Goodison Park’s links to women’s football, as the women's derby match was fast approaching. Click image for BBC Sounds iPlayer (item is at 1 hr 20min) More articles on our Everton Women Heritage Page In addition to the EFCHS webpage above, our society member Bradley Cates (a.k.a. EFCStatto) also has a dedicated webpage . I
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Who was the Peruvian Dixie Dean?

Who was the Peruvian Dixie Dean?

Richie Gillham Left to right: Geldard, Dunn, Villanueva, Johnson, Stein (courtesy of the John Rowlands Albert Geldard Collection) Alejandro Villanueva: The Peruvian Legend who Dazzled at Home and Abroad Alejandro Villanueva was one of the most iconic figures in Peruvian football during the heyday of the 1930s. Born on 4 June 1908, in Lima, Villanueva became a symbol of Peruvian football’s golden era during the 1920s and 1930s. Alejandro had many nicknames, including 'Manguera' - a nod to his ability and agility on the pitch with his extraordinary control of a football, and his many outrageous moves. Liverpool Echo, 26…
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The Toffees in Tenerife in 1934

The Toffees in Tenerife in 1934

Rob Sawyer Post-season Everton tours beyond these shores were becoming firmly established in the early 1930s. Previously, there had been trips to Austria-Hungary (1905), South America (1909), Barcelona (1924), and Switzerland (1928). The spring of 1932 had seen the newly-crowned Football League champions play six matches in Germany; a year later, as FA Cup holders, the Toffees toured Denmark. Tours in that era earned clubs some funds but, in contrast to what we witness today, there not untold riches on offer, or thoughts of raising global brand awareness. The Everton squad 1933-34 season Early in 1934, key figures on Tenerife…
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Broken Dreams: Everton, The War and Goodison’s Lost Generation

Broken Dreams: Everton, The War and Goodison’s Lost Generation

Rob Sawyer - in Conversation with Paul McParlan In the late summer of 1939, Everton Football Club had the world at their feet. After a 1938/39 season that saw them claim the League Championship title, they seemed poised to become an enduring dynasty in English football. With young stars like Tommy Lawton, a veteran goalkeeper in Ted Sagar, and emerging talents like Joe Mercer and TG Jones, Everton was a squad bursting with potential. But the invasion of Poland by Germany, just eight days into the 1939/40 season, suspended the dreams and ambitions of a team that looked set to…
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The Life and Sporting Career of Robert ‘George’ Pilch

The Life and Sporting Career of Robert ‘George’ Pilch

Richie Gillham Early Life and Football Beginnings Robert 'George' Pilch (Photo: Bob Goodwin, 'The Spurs Alphabet: Complete Who's Who of Tottenham Hotspur F.C.' (1992) ) Robert Pilch, more commonly known by his middle name George, was born on 12 October 1877 in Holt, Norfolk. From a young age, George showcased his athletic prowess, particularly in football. Although born into a family with a rich cricketing heritage (his great-uncle, Fuller Pilch, was a legendary cricketer), George focused on football. His father was also heavily involved in sports, organising the Norwich Church of England Young Men’s Society (CEYMS) ground. This family background…
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Colin Green: The Brymbo Boy and Everton full-back – in conversation with Rob Sawyer

Colin Green: The Brymbo Boy and Everton full-back – in conversation with Rob Sawyer

In 2024, Rob Sawyer of EFCHS met with former Welsh international Colin Green in his Wrexham home. Signed by Everton as a schoolboy in 1957, Colin made his first team debut in September 1960, going on to play eighteen times for the Blues, before making 183 appearances for Birmingham. Now eighty-two years old, a fascinating time was spent in the company of Colin, learning about his life in football, most especially his time at Everton between 1957 and 1962. https://youtu.be/0ues-4XqkcE ............................................................................. Gallery Everton FC squad 1959/60 pictured on the Park End/Bullens Road training ground. Colin Green in on the back…
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The FA Youth Cup Campaign of 1976/77

The FA Youth Cup Campaign of 1976/77

Steve Zocek                                                       Prior to Everton reaching the FA Youth Cup Final in the season of 1976/77 the young Blues had made their bow in the final of 1960/61, where they were beaten 5-3 on aggregate over two legs by Chelsea. Four year later, the youth side again reached the peak of the competition, going one better than their previous encounter. Extra time prevailed in second leg at Goodison as the Blues edged their way to victory, with an aggregate score of 3-2 over Arsenal. In the season of 1976/77, Colin Harvey’s youngsters reached the final of the FA Youth Cup,…
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The Brief History of A.F.C Everton of Auckland, New Zealand 1907-1922

The Brief History of A.F.C Everton of Auckland, New Zealand 1907-1922

Part I: 1907-1908 Richie Gillham The first reports of a team in Auckland, New Zealand called Everton, appeared in the first decade of the twentieth century, but the club was only in existence for a short period before a second Everton team would be formed in Auckland in 1911. The Auckland Football Association was founded in 1887, following the formation of several football clubs, but it would not be into the next century before Everton Auckland would become part of the organisation. The roots of the club lay in church football, just as it did for Everton FC and St Domingo.…
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Ted and Alan Storey – Guardians of Goodison Park’s Pitch

Ted and Alan Storey – Guardians of Goodison Park’s Pitch

Rob Sawyer In an era before blended natural-synthetic surfaces and other technological advances, the responsibility for keeping the famous Goodison Park playing surface in top-top condition over many decades lay with Ted and Alan Storey, two of the Toffees’ unsung heroes. Ted Storey in the early 1960s Ulverston-born Ted Storey (christened Edward, but some articles refer to erroneously as Edwin) moved to Liverpool in childhood. By 1901, aged 13, he was living with his widowed mother and siblings at 78 Windermere Street, not far from Anfield. On leaving school at 14 years of age, in April 1902, he joined the…
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A Pickle Over Pickering

A Pickle Over Pickering

Jamie Yates The art of football research can be a complex one. There is so much information out there. Enthusiasts around the world continue to contribute to the ever-growing mass of football writing and gathering of statistics every day. The internet has opened access to numerous historical resources, but also served to further the duplication of inaccurate information which has been perpetuated in print over the past near-150 years since the earliest days of ‘the Association game’. Newspaper records are a treasure trove, but mistakes were also made way back when, and, in many instances, inadvertently become fact, reappearing in…
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